Kāhuli Tree Snails

I was thrilled to see Blackline Hawaiian Damselflies -- Megalagrion nigrohamatum nigrolineatum -- high in the northern Koʻolau Mountains at about 2,000 feet elevation. With the recent discovery of a previously unknown remnant population of Blackline Hawaiian...

A previously unknown population of Blackline Hawaiian Damselflies is the subject of concern with the proposed expansion of Hawaiian Memorial Park (HMP). In June 2016, Liam Gray took me and several windward residents – Patrick Shea, Grant Yoshimori, Caitlyn Yoshimori,...

Cyanea superba is one of the successful conservation stories where a rare native Hawaiian plant was saved from the brink of extinction. Cyanea has more than 70 species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands -- the largest and most morphologically diverse genus in the...

One of the fascinating insects in Hawaiian entomology is the Drosophila Fly. Over 800 species evolved in the Hawaiian Islands -- the largest known radiation of any insect on an oceanic island. Different species range in length from less than 1.5 millimeters (a...

One of the eye-catching sights in the Hawaiian flora are the flowers of ʻŌpelu -- Lobelia hypoleuca. The plant blooms just once in its lifetime. It grows for years as a rosette of long slender leaves until an inflorescence -- flower stalk -- sprouts, grows, and...

One of the cutest native insects is the Koa Butterfly, also known as Blackburn’s Butterfly or the Hawaiian Blue – Udara Blackburnii. The Koa butterfly is one of only two butterfly species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Koa Butterfly has a wingspan of about an...

I love to visit Kalopā State Park to see Hibiscus clayi -- kokiʻo ʻula -- which has the cutest little red flowers. For many years I have been visiting Kalopā in Hamakua on Hawaiʻi Island to see a number of rare native plants in cultivation. One of most striking is...

I was thrilled to get close-up shots of a cute little Scotorythra moth in Haleakalā Crater on the island of Maui. While backpacking through Haleakalā Crater, we were lucky when entomologist Steve Montgomery found a Scotorythra moth outside the Palikū Cabin where we...

I was thrilled to stumble on Hawaiian yellow-faced bees -- nalo meli maoli -- on lehua flowers on Hawaiʻi Island. The native bees are small -- less than a quarter inch long -- and look more like black-brown wasps that have a yellow face. Honey bees -- which are much...

One of the amazing denizens in the Hawaiian forest is the carnivorous caterpillar Eupithecia. Eupithecia is a large genus of moths with over a thousand described species worldwide whose caterpillars feed on plant material. But when the moths found their way to...

One of the rare flowers found only on Oʻahu is Cyanea crispa or Haha. Known as the Crimpled Rollandia, the plant grows up to 5 feet high with large broad leaves that form a crown at the top of the plant several feet in diameter. The plant was discovered by famous...

One of the oddest native Hawaiian insects is the ʻakoko planthopper which has a distinctive nose almost as long as the bug itself. The tiny winged creature -- Dictyophorodelphax swezeyi -- is about 5 mm long -- slightly larger than an ant. The insect is endemic to...

Among the rarest plants in the Hawaiian Islands is Cyanea truncata -- Haha -- which can be found in the Koʻolau Mountains of Oʻahu. Cyanea truncata grows 3-4 feet high and is found in dense native forests. The plant produces large broad leaves up to 18 inches long. ...

Honeygirl gave birth to a Hawaiian Monk Seal baby on February 25, 2015 -- the first known pup born in the main Hawaiian Islands for the 2015 birthing season. The pup was female -- a cute baby girl. I visited the seals 4 times over the almost 7 week period to see the...

One of spectacular flowers found in the Northern Koʻolau Mountains of Oʻahu is Koliʻi -- Tremtolobelia macrostachys -- which often grows as an epiphyte on other plants in the native landscape. According to Joseph Rock, who wrote the monograph on the Hawaiian Lobeliad...